Thrifty Wife Happy Life

Helping women love what they wear on a budget

Hand-me-downs

by Katie Haller

One thing I have learned in my quest to save money on clothes… is to never underestimate a hand-me-down. Typically, hand-me-downs are known as old, worn-out clothes that your older sister, cousin, neighbor or family friend passed down to you when they either grow out of them or just don’t want them anymore. That’s not always the case. Everyone can give away hand-me-downs. I like to go through my closet every so often. Usually, I will set aside clothes to give away. They are not always worn out or ugly clothes. They are just clothes that are either not my taste anymore, or maybe it’s a cute shirt I bought, but it’s just not my color and it’s too late to return it. I always like to offer my clothes to people I know first before I give them away to charity. It’s a great way to recycle your clothing.Read more

What I Wore This Week

by Katie Haller

I’m so happy it’s Friday! I tried some new outfits this week. I’m sure some of my clothes are starting to look familiar, but I try to keep the looks new. Here are some of my favorite outfits from this week. 
Black blazer- Forever 21
Pink Blouse- Hand-me-down from my mom. 
White Pants- Target
Shoes- Target
Black dress- Target
Sweater- Target
Boots- Target
Leggings- Charlotte Russe
Blazer- Kohls
Pants- Kohls
Shirt- Target
Shoes- Old Navy

Kate’s Shoes for less- Shopping finds

by Katie Haller

About a month ago I wrote a post on how I was on a hunt for some new shoes to add to my closet. I was looking for a pair of nude-colored pumps, similar to the L.K Bennett shoes that Kate Middleton is always wearing. I have been doing a lot of research on these shoes. I wanted to find a cute, stylish, comfortable shoe that was also in my price range. I looked everywhere that you might think to search for cheap shoes. Amazon, Target, Kohls, Payless, DSW, clearance rooms in department stores and even thrift stores. What I found was… it is extremely difficult to find any pair of shoes for under $30. I know that $30 is really not a lot of money for a pair of shoes, but still, I wanted something for an even lower price. Either way, I ended up settling with $30 as my max price of what I was willing to spend for my shoes.
I ended up finding a few cute pairs of shoes that I was interested in at DSW. They had a pretty decent selection, but the only downside was that the cheapest pair of shoes I could find was $39.99. I ended up getting a $10 off coupon this past week in my e-mail, so I was pretty set on buying the shoes from DSW. Just when I thought I had made my decision, I checked my Target mobile coupons on my iPhone. I had a $5 off $30 shoe purchase at Target. I really couldn’t pass up the price of $25.

 Here is my biggest dilemma when it comes to discount shopping. I like to shop at stores like DSW, TJ Maxx and Marshall’s because they sell all of the brands that you can buy at the department stores for less money. Target is its own brand and when given the choice, I’d rather buy the more expensive brand for less, then the Target brand for the same price. I feel like I’m getting a better quality of a product. In this situation I ended up going with the Target shoes, and here is why… I think Target has great quality products. I spend a lot of money at Target, so I would know. Some of my favorite shoes are from Target. They seem to hold up very well over time and more importantly… they are extremely comfortable. I’ve bought the more expensive name brands in the past and they kill my feet, so why not go for the discount store like Target?

So what do you think? Do they look like Kate Middleton’s  L.K. Bennett Shoes? I have to say that they’re not a bad match for $25.

I love my new shoes! If you’re looking for new shoes, but don’t want to spend a lot of money, I suggest you check out Target.

Katie’s Closet~Weekend Wardrobe

by Katie Haller

I post a lot of my work outfits from the weekdays, but I don’t post many of my weekend outfits. The weekends are my days to play catch up. I usually run errands and spend time at home, so I like to be comfortable and casual, but still look cute. So here is my grocery store, errand running, casual Saturday look.
Striped Shirt- Old Navy
Skinny Jeans- Old Navy
Sweater- Target
Belt- Old Navy
Shoes- Toms- Nordstrom
Causal and comfortable, does not have to mean frumpy. How do you dress on the weekends?

Celebrity Looks- Cameron Diaz

by Katie Haller

In our culture, celebrities are the trendsetters.  They live in the public eye and are always being photographed.  Everyone always looks to see what celebrities are wearing.  I know that I am always looking to see what celebrities are wearing for inspiration.  I can’t copy their looks exactly.  They can afford all the expensive designers that I can’t.  What I can do is use their looks as a guideline.
My first featured celebrity for this post is… Cameron Diaz.  I have always been a fan of her movies and her style.  She has a fun wild side, but also a casual laid back look.  She’s girly…yet has a tomboy look at times as well.  People have always told me that I look like her.  I think that’s a reason why I have always gravitated towards her for inspiration. 
Here are a few of her looks that I recreated…

My first look was really simple. Cameron wore a black 3/4 sleeve sweater, white cropped pants, black pumps with a fun bracelet to accessorize. 
What I found in my closets…
Black sweater- Express
White pants- Target
Black pumps- BCBG’s- Marshall’s  
Silver chain bracelet- H&M
I love this casual look. Cameron wore a slouchy sweater, jeans, brown flat boots and a big over size bag. 
My closet…
Slouchy sweater- Express
Jeans- Old Navy
Brown Boots- DSW 
For this look Cameron wore peachy pink jeans with a simple white top, beige blazer, strappy heals and a black over size bag. Here is what I found in my closet.
Grey Blazer- LC Lauren Conrad Kohls
Red jeans (I don’t have any lighter colored jeans)-Kohls
White T-Shirt- Target
Black purse- Chinese Laundry- Nordstroms
Bronze peep toe heals- Jessica Simpson- Marshall’s
Celebrities can offer some great inspiration when it comes to putting together outfits. I can’t wait to share more of my favorites! 

Shopping Finds

by Katie Haller

When it comes to saving money, shopping for clothes is my biggest weakness. My husband tells me every month “no spending”! I know what he means by this… Don’t buy anything that you don’t need. Well… I need clothes. I’ve gone about 2 months without buying anything new. Okay… well maybe I bought one or two things here or there, but it wasn’t much. I bought a sweater at Target that was on clearance for $5 and a pair of boots at Target that were purchased with a gift card from Christmas, so really it has been a while.I’ve been feeling like it was time to spend just a little bit of money on a few new items to add to my closet. So the other day I stopped at Kohls where they had a ton of clearance sales. I wasn’t really looking for anything in particular, but I had an idea of some items I’ve been wanting, one being some bright-colored pants. I lucked out, because sitting on the end of the rack was a pair of red cropped jeans in my size for $5. I knew I had to try them on. I’ve been wanting a new pair of colored pants for a while now, but I wasn’t willing to spend a lot of money on them. I knew I couldn’t pass up $5.

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